modernism

Daniel Fusch · 26 Oct 1999, 20:24 · from urth-v0028.mbox · original

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From: "Daniel Fusch" <dfusch at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: (urth) modernism
Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 13:24:05 PDT
Message-ID: <urth-v0028-0252 at digest.urth.net>
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alga,

Thanks for the reply! Sorry for rambling so much.

You said something I was wondering about:

(snip)
"Bradbury and LeGuin will last as children's authors. Miller will last for=20
people interested in the history of SF (as Bradbury and LeGuin will too, of=20
course--the way Sheridan LeFanu has lasted)."

I'm curious--are we thinking of the same works? I didn't know Bradbury wrot=
e=20
fiction for children. I was thinking of his short stories--"Usher II" and=20
"The Moon Be Still As Bright," for instance--and his "Farenheit 451," which=20
seems to be a staple in college fiction courses. When I mentioned LeGuin, I=20
was thinking of "The Left Hand of Darkness" (about as far from children's=20
fiction as you can get) and others. I know she did write some books for=20
children--"A Wizard for Earthsea." I had something else in mind, though.

Anyway, are we thinking of the same Bradbury?

About "Foundation": I have mixed reactions to that work, but I think it is=20
evident that it will last.

About "Things to Come": Watch it if you ever get the chance. 1936, written=20
and directed by H.G. Wells. An eerily prophetic movie. A world war started=20
in 1940 and continued for decades, until a technological society came to=20
power and built cities that look exactly like modern malls, right down to=20
the escalators. The movie brilliantly captured the whole ideology of=20
imperialism and manifest destiny.

About "2001": A relic of more than the 60s, perhaps. Another movie that=20
summarized an entire ideology. It's almost the ideological capstone of the=20
"golden age" of science fiction; its literary roots extend back to=20
Nietzsche--the idea of Zarathustra, the Super-man, the god-man of Reason an=
d=20
The Mind. Well, that's not a very good way of explaining it. I suppose, in =
a=20
nutshell, the thesis of the film is: "Man is god, and will evolve into ever=20
higher states of existence." I think this theme appeared in the writings of=20
Frank Herbert and also Gordon R. Dickson (but I haven't read Dickson, so I'=
m=20
basing this on hearsay). It was definitely implicit in much of the=20
mid-century science fiction.

Anyway, these films will be around for a while--they stand as monuments=20
(perhaps I should say monoliths?) to an ideological and literary tradition=20
that had a profound influence on our society.

Hmmm. You know, I suppose that's another, more long-winded way of saying=20
"It's a relic of the 60s," after all.

=3D)

This is a fascinating discussion. Checking my e-mail this morning, I found=20
almost twenty messages on the mailing list! It must be a very busy mailing=20
list.

Well, it keeps the mind working!

Daniel

P.S. When you have an alias on the mailing list, do I address you by the=20
alias or the actual name?

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